CRITICAL INVESTIGATION

To what extent do the female characters in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘SALT’ challenge traditional female stereotypes?

The female characters in the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ and the ‘Salt’ challenge the traditional female stereotypes significantly due to the roles they take upon in both films. An example is that the protagonist Angelina Jolie took the role of a spy in the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ which means that she was represented as intelligent and  smart. Also as both films are action films, this challenges the traditional female stereotype as both films have protagonists of females, and therefore this challenges the traditional female stereotype as most films in the 80’s didn't have female protagonists in action films. This shows how the female characters are represented as courageous and therefore they don’t need to depend on men. However, it could be argued that females still have traditional stereotypes as in the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Angelina Jolie is wearing clothes fitted to her body, which therefore presents her as a sexualised object. This shows gills theory of female gaze, as women in the media are presented as sexualised objects for men to look at. This also shows the theory of the female body the debate of the plus size. In both films the female characters have an idealised female body, which is emphasised through their clothing. The use of make-up also connoted how women still don’t challenge the traditional female stereotype, as the Angelina Jolie is wearing red lipstick. This emphasises her appearance as being looked at by the male audience as this makes her look more attractive and an object to be looked at.